


Twinkling Lights

by jinwann



Series: Lactose Intolerant [2]
Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Domestic, Cat/Human Hybrids, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, kitten kids! Sanghyuk and Mina and Hyeyeon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2016-09-24
Packaged: 2018-08-17 02:55:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8127694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jinwann/pseuds/jinwann
Summary: Taekwoon and Sanghyuk are sick and it looks to be the job for Hyeyeon and Mina to fight off the Germ Monster.





	

**Author's Note:**

> and the black hole of domestic garbageness grows ever more vast ^^;; if you have any prompts or questions hmu at curiouscat.me/sanghyukk or talk to me on twitter @babyxius

Taekwoon knows he's sick and out of commission for the day as soon as he wakes up coughing hard, feeling his chest seize with an effort to breathe, lungs flaring up with pain, and the feeling of sandpaper grinding on his throat.

He rolls over blearily, reaching out for Hakyeon on the other side of the bed. He knows Hakyeon is awake because Hakyeon is always the first one awake in the house, usually drinking tea and reading a book until it's time to start waking up everyone else for the day. Hakyeon catches his hand, squeezing it as Taekwoon groans with the effort to roll over and push himself into his husband's side.

"Hakyeon-ah," Taekwoon groans, trying his hardest to open his eyes. His face feels hot but a sharp shiver working down his spine has his toes curling. He coughs again, curling up on himself, and it somehow hurts even worse than before.

Hakyeon hums quietly, carding through Taekwoon's long bangs. He presses his palm to Taekwoon's forehead while simultaneously scratching his head. "You're sick for sure," he murmurs, dragging his fingers from Taekwoon's head down his spine to rub his back over the covers. "You can't go to work today."

Taekwoon exhales softly, eyes fluttering shut after having to strain to look up at his husband. He knew that already, somehow. Hakyeon has a subtle worry drawn in his brows and empathy in his eyes. Taekwoon can't really make out much else through his teary gaze. He supposes he doesn't mind that he can't go to work today- Wonshik owes him a favor anyway.

His voice feels scratchy in his throat and so he doesn't say anything. He craves for Hakyeon's physical affection but curls away from him because the first little reason comes marching through their bedroom door, hair a mess around her face and kitten ears pressed flat against the top of her head.

"Dad," Hyeyeon whines quietly, their youngest padding into the room. Only her eyes and the top of her head are visible over the side of the bed. "Dad, I can't go back to sleep."

Taekwoon reaches out blindly, cupping her cheek gently and brushing the stray baby hairs around her face. Hyeyeon's gray kitten ears perk up through her curly mop of hair and they flicker happily as Taekwoon scratches her head.

But he feels another cough squeezing his chest and he manages to duck beneath the covers before the cough has his whole frame shaking. Hyeyeon's ears flicker at the noise and the sleepy smile on her face automatically drops into a frown.

Hakyeon calls out to her, picking her up and dropping her in his lap when she shuffles to his side of the bed. He tries to comb down her messy hair with his fingers before giving up and instead pets her gray tail winding anxiously around the stuffed elephant plush she sleeps with. She's still frowning, ears pressed flat against the top of her head, and Hakyeon can't help but chuckle.

"Dad is sick today," he murmurs, poking her cheek where her dimples are. "Papa is going to get you all ready for school today so that Dad can feel better."

Hyeyeon manages to frown even harder, determinedly crawling off of Hakyeon's lap and poking the lump of covers. Her tail straightens out in curiosity as she tries to climb the mountain of her father and ends up toppling back when Taekwoon rolls over and peeks out from beneath the comforter, only his teary eyes visible over the bed sheets.

"Are you gonna be okay, Dad?" she asks, dumping her elephant plush right on his face when she tries to reach out to touch his forehead. Hakyeon tries his best to corral her back into his lap lest she decide to drop the toy on his face again. Taekwoon does his best to answer her but his voice comes out as a whimper. He shoots a pitiful, sad look towards Hakyeon, pouting beneath the covers.

"Dad is going to be okay," Hakyeon says, patting Hyeyeon's head. "How about you go wake up Mina and Sanghyuk for Dad instead?"

Hyeyeon nods emphatically, blowing Taekwoon a little air kiss before hopping off the bed and taking off into a dead sprint for her older siblings' bedrooms.

Hakyeon sighs, cupping Taekwoons cheek even if the heat radiating against his palm is warm and sticky. "I've got it handled today, okay? I'll be back once the kids are ready."

Taekwoon doesn't really believe that Hakyeon can get the kids ready by himself. He's trying his best to learn how to do the girls' hair or fix Sanghyuk's lunch just the way he likes it, but he's pretty terrible at it still. Most things turn out to be a knotted mess or a culinary disaster, so Taekwoon rolls out of bed anyway even if standing makes him incredibly dizzy. 

He shuffles down the hall, hardly able to make out the blurs in front of his face. He can hear Hakyeon's voice distantly from the girls' room at the end of the hallway, and so he opens the door on his left leading into Sanghyuk's room. It's strangely quiet, especially since Sanghyuk is almost always awake by this time. 

"Dad," Sanghyuk whines, voice small and soft and almost inaudible. The comforter shakes with the force of a little cough. Sanghyuk's ears stick out above the covers but the rest of him is buried beneath it. 

Taekwoon shuffles over and plops down on the carpet, muscles aching. His head is still spinning but he blinks through it and pulls the covers back far enough to see Sanghyuk's flushed and sweaty face, eyes watery as his son looks up at him and frowns. Taekwoon silently places his hand on Sanghyuk's forehead, feeling almost sad as Sanghyuk's whole frame shakes with the force of his cough. 

"I don't feel good, Dad," he murmurs, looking up behind wet lashes. "My stomach hurts."

Taekwoon sighs, combing back through Sanghyuk's sweaty hair. "Looks like both of us are going to stay home sick today."

Sanghyuk's ears pick up a little, eyes widening in the slightest. "You're sick too, Dad?"

Taekwoon nods silently, swallowing back a cough working its way up his throat. Sanghyuk reaches his little hand out, curiosity flashing in his eyes. Taekwoon presses his forehead to Sanghyuk's palm, who retracts it almost instantly. 

"Hot," Sanghyuk murmurs to himself, looking up at Taekwoon. 

Smiling, Taekwoon pulls back the covers and opens his arms. "Come on, kiddo, let's go eat so we can start feeling better."

Sanghyuk reluctantly crawls out of bed, tail flickering out behind him and latching onto Taekwoon's wrist as he stands. He steadies himself against Taekwoon's leg before grabbing the baby blue blanket slipping off the edge of the bed and pressing it close to his chest. 

The noise level from down the hall has increased as Taekwoon heads to the kitchen. He can hear Mina and Hyeyeon giggling from behind the door and Hakyeon's exasperated sighing. Sanghyuk is smiling a little as he sits down at the table, accepting the cough drop Taekwoon presses into his palms. 

"Dad! Dad! Dad! Papa is messing up my hair!" Mina yells a few minutes later as she comes running into the kitchen, ears pressed back and tail swinging wildly behind her. She latches onto Taekwoon's leg, looking up at him with big eyes as he cracks eggs into the hot skillet. Her hair is a mess, wild around her face, and there's a particularly nasty looking knot at the back of her head. 

Taekwoon winces, putting a finger to his lips and shushing Mina. The sound is ringing in his ears and looking back at Sanghyuk, he doesn't seem to be faring so well either. "Baby, you have to be quiet. Sanghyuk is sick and loud noises hurt his ears."

Mina whips around immediately to look at her brother, face falling when she realizes Sanghyuk has his hands pressed over his ears and eyes shut tight. She pads over to him softly, ears pressed flat to her head and tail between her legs. "I'm sorry, Sanghyuk," she murmurs, eyes wet with unshed tears. "I'll be quiet so you can get better."

Sanghyuk smiles and pets her head cautiously, as if being careful not to spread his germs. "It's okay, Mina. Come sit beside me and I'll untangle your hair."

So Mina does as he says, pushing the chair beside him closer and clambering up into the wooden seat. She plops on the chair, back facing him and legs dangling off the edge. She tries to be mindful of her tail as Sanghyuk works through the tangles in her hair but every time he pulls a little too hard, her tail swings back and hits him lightly. She whispers sorry every time, especially when Sanghyuk starts coughing hard, but Sanghyuk just smiles at her and keeps working through the knots. 

By the time Taekwoon has flipped out five fried eggs and there are five pieces of buttered toast, Sanghyuk has managed to untangle Hyeyeon's hair as well. Both of the girls are standing at Taekwoon's legs in their school uniforms askew on their shoulders, hair sticking up in odd places, and ears standing straight on their heads. Hakyeon had finally gotten a chance to get ready himself and was now sitting beside Sanghyuk, letting the kitten lean against his side as he ran fingers through his hair. Sanghyuk blinked sleepily at Hakyeon, trying his best to hold back a shiver.

Taekwoon sets the eggs and toast on the table before helping Hyeyeon into the chair next to him and Mina into his lap. Hyeyeon eagerly feeds herself while Hakyeon is carefully giving Sanghyuk little pieces of toast to settle his upset stomach. Taekwoon firstly straightens out Mina's uniform, fixing her collar and flattening out her dress. Then he takes her sparkly pink hairbrush and detangler spray and works it through her hair, gently brushing through it until all of the tangles are out. He flattens all the frizz out and pulls it into a high side ponytail. 

Mina hops off his lap, pleased when she touches her ponytail. "Thank you, Dad," she whispers, quickly scurrying over to her chair and taking a big bite of toast. Hakyeon sighs, carding through her ponytail before reaching for a napkin and wiping the crumbs off her cheeks. 

Hyeyeon climbs into his lap next, holding on to her piece of toast and humming to herself. Taekwoon brushes her hair out and sprays it with detangler before putting her hair up into two twin ponytails. He slides a gold floral headband into her hair and straightens out her uniform before setting her back into her chair to eat. 

His appetite hadn't been there from the beginning, but a stern look from Hakyeon has him reluctantly shoving toast into his mouth. Sanghyuk is watching him intently, and so he eats all of his breakfast even if it hurts so much to swallow. By the time the girls have scampered off to get their backpacks, he's stomached as much as he can and has swallowed down children's cold medicine with a grimace. Sanghyuk drinks from the little cup, gagging as he swallows it back, and Hakyeon rubs his back comfortingly until he's stopped coughing. 

"I guess we're heading off," Hakyeon says, looking at Hyeyeon and Mina struggling to put on their light up shoes by the door. He smiles, looking up at Taekwoon like sunshine were bubbling up in him and Taekwoon thinks his chest seizing isn't from being sick. Hakyeon pulls Taekwoon into a hug and leans up to kiss his cheek. "Take care of Sanghyuk, okay? And don't overwork yourself."

Taekwoon nods silently, hugging Hakyeon for a little longer and resisting the temptation to kiss him on the lips goodbye as he always does. Hakyeon finally pulls away before hugging Sanghyuk tight and pushing his bangs back to kiss his forehead. Even while he's sick, Sanghyuk still whines about it until Hakyeon stops smothering him. 

Just before they leave, Taekwoon gets an armful of his daughters rushing for him fast enough to make his dizziness worse. They blow him kisses, tails intertwined and light up shoes casting rainbow shadows on the ground. 

"Bye, Dad!" they whisper together before running out the door. Hakyeon waves him goodbye before grabbing his keys and running after them. 

After all of that, Taekwoon finally feels the aches of his bones and the exhaustion weighing him down. He plops in his chair, head lolling back and feeling the medicine start to make him sleepy. Sanghyuk also looks close to drifting back asleep. 

"Come on, let's go sleep," he murmurs, taking Sanghyuk's hand and leading him off to his bedroom. They clamber under the covers together and Sanghyuk almost falls back asleep instantly. Taekwoon cards through his son's hair, carefully running the pads of his fingers over the tear in his ear, before he also drifts off to sleep. 

They spend most of the day in and out of sleep, only woken up by coughing fits. Taekwoon wakes up every time Sanghyuk does, even when Sanghyuk whines lightly in his sleep. At some point in between waking up and drifting off to the sound of cartoons their stomachs hurt, but Taekwoon still goes to the kitchen to warm up soup. As his fever peaks, Sanghyuk struggles to get down the soup and the lactose-free milk and looks up at Taekwoon with wet eyes because he doesn't want to take any more medicine. When they've finished, they drift off to sleep and wake up again just before Hakyeon gets home with a vomiting scare. Taekwoon has to clutch his own stomach as he pats Sanghyuk's back and sits him up to drink soda to calm his tummy. 

He knows how much Sanghyuk hates feeling sick, feeling helpless and weak, and he hates that all he can offer is to take care of his son as best as he can and promise he'll get better soon. He'd take away all of Sanghyuk's pain if he could, but Sanghyuk looks up at him and smiles and Taekwoon thinks that his son knows what he means even if he doesn't say it. 

They doze off again just as Hakyeon sneaks into the house with the girls. He slowly wakes up as Sanghyuk shifts beside him, tugging on the hem of his shirt to wake up. As his vision clears, he sees two sets of kitten ears peaking over the edge of the bed and two bright pairs of eyes looking between each other.

"Hyeyeon, you have to be quiet," Mina whispers, right ear flicking out at a different timing than her left. "We're supposed to surprise Dad and Sanghyuk."

Hyeyeon nods emphatically, holding a finger up to her lips and shushing herself. Taekwoon shuts his eyes and pretends to be asleep again. He listens to the rustling of a plastic bag as the girls rummage through it, pulling out a box and accidentally spilling its contents onto the floor. Taekwoon still pretends to sleep as the girls gasp, looking at him directly to make sure he isn't awake, before gathering up whatever had spilled out and fidgeting with the packaging. 

There's a sudden freezing cold compress pressed to his eyebrows, having missed his forehead, and Taekwoon can feel his whole body tremble with a shiver locking around his spine. 

"Surprise!" Hyeyeon and Mina whisper-shout, looking between each other and up at Taekwoon with big, proud smiles and cheeks dimpling. They hop up onto the bed themselves and clamber into the middle, sitting on their knees and holding the plastic bag between them. "We got you a lot of things to make you feel better!"

Taekwoon smiles softly, struggling to sit up and place the cold compress sheet properly on his forehead. "Thank you, girls," he murmurs, cupping each of their cheeks in turn before laying back against the backboard of the bed. From the doorway, Hakyeon looks on proudly before his gaze meets with Taekwoon's, warm and filled with silent concern. 

"We got you both juice," Hyeyeon says, pulling out two ice cold orange juice bottles and handing one to each of them. "Papa said it would be good for you."

Hakyeon is practically beaming from the corner of the room. 

Mina hands Sanghyuk a cold compress, insisting she unwrap it for him before he sticks it onto his forehead. He also shivers from the sudden change in temperature, but some of the worry lines in his face have disappeared. Then, Hyeyeon pulls out all of their favorite non-dairy snacks, most of them consisting of gummies and the kittens' favorite, rare lactose-free pudding they can get at just one convenient store nearby. The bed is full of them and Sanghyuk already looks like he's feeling better just by staring at them. 

"We got all of these for you too," Mina says, looking at all of the snacks thoughtfully before her tail winds around a small packet of Sailor Moon gummies that she discreetly tries to sneak behind her back. "Well... almost all of them."

Sanghyuk laughs and for the first time that day genuinely smiles. He looks up at Taekwoon first, then over at Hakyeon to make sure he's allowed to eat the candy. Once he gets an approving nod from Hakyeon, he reaches out for a pudding cup and eagerly eats it. 

Hakyeon comes to sit on the edge of the bed as Mina and Hyeyeon begin to delve into stories about their day at school. Mina had already started the first grade while Hyeyeon was still in kindergarten but they shared recess together and explained how they'd played on the swings and fought off the evil green Germ Monster that had Dad and Sanghyuk in its clutches. And, therefore, because they had fought off the Germ Monster, no one was supposed to be sick anymore. 

"It doesn't work like that," Sanghyuk murmurs, voice soft and raspy. "Germs get into your body and so your body has to fight them off inside you."

Mina and Hyeyeon look curiously between themselves before they look down at their arms. Their jaws drop open and their eyes light up instantly. "You mean we have germs right now? Even though we aren't sick at all?" Hyeyeon asks, head cocked to the right. 

Sanghyuk nods. Both of his sisters squeal and high five each other for having germ defenders in their body. Sanghyuk and Taekwoon spend a long time trying to explain to them about how germs work while Hakyeon makes a call for Chinese food. Somehow even after explaining how getting sick works and how not all germs are bad, Mina and Hyeyeon are still incredibly excited at the thought of having little Sailor Scout defenders in their body and secret agent germs. Sanghyuk just rolls his eyes and flops back against the bed, burying under the covers until the food comes. 

Hakyeon lets them eat in front of the television while a movie is playing. It isn't Sanghyuk's turn but he still gets to choose because he tells Mina and Hyeyeon that he'll get better faster if they're watching the Avengers. But after finishing their food, the girls run off to grab their shared doctor play set and start pretending to diagnose Taekwoon with sauce still on their cheeks. 

"Yep! It's chicken pox!" Mina giggles, pulling out the fake thermometer from Taekwoon's mouth with a flourish and pretending to look at the reading. Taekwoon just smiles at her softly and brushes her ears back. "Doctor Hyeyeon, I think pudding will cure this."

Hyeyeon nods, clambering onto Taekwoon's lap with a new cup of pudding. Taekwoon cups her cheek gently, wiping off the chocolate at her mouth with a napkin before taking the pudding cup. He takes a big bite of the pudding cup and the girls erupt into more giggles. 

"We've done it!" they cheer, hi-fiving and rolling onto the floor together before pilfering through their doctor set to cure the next sickness. 

Hakyeon smiles and then places the real thermometer into Taekwoon's mouth. Taekwoon pouts, looking up at his husband until Hakyeon kisses his forehead. "Honestly you're such a baby," he murmurs, poking Taekwoon's side and taking out the thermometer to read it. "Fever's down at least," he says to himself, quickly disposing of the tip and replacing it to take Sanghyuk's temperature. Sanghyuk's tail winds around Hakyeon's wrist, ears cocked as he tries to stare at the thermometer to see the number. When it beeps, he startles and curls up into Taekwoon's side. 

"Both of your fevers broke," Hakyeon says. Hyeyeon and Mina look up excitedly, ears straight and tails fluffed.

"We did do it!"

Taekwoon laughs softly as both girls hop up into his lap and hug him. He wraps his arms around them both and squeezes, taking in the faint smell of strawberries still clinging to their hair. Their eyes are so bright and warm when they look at him, and he feels his heart swell. When they climb off his lap again, he hugs Sanghyuk gently and ruffles his hair. Even though his ears turn out in annoyance, his smile is soft as he looks up at Taekwoon an snuggles back underneath the blankets. 

At some point before the movie has even ended, Taekwoon had drifted off to sleep again. He wakes up with a start when Sanghyuk coughs beside him, still deep asleep. Hyeyeon is still playing quietly on the carpet while Mina seems to be finishing up the last of her math homework with Hakyeon helping her. He watches blearily for a moment, smiling to himself before he stares at his husband. After all of these years, he sometimes still doesn't believe that he has the life he's always dreamed of with a man he's loved since they'd met in the high school choir. Sometimes he feels undeserving of it all, like he hasn't and will never do enough to deserve the loving husband he has and the sweetest kids he could ever ask for. 

Hakyeon turns around to look at him, smile soft on his face and blowing a kiss from his seat. Taekwoon ducks beneath the cover and Hakyeon's laugh warms through his aching bones. 

Hakyeon eventually takes the girls to shower before wrestling them into their princess pajamas and tucking them into bed. They refuse to sleep until Taekwoon has also come to say goodnight, and even though he can't give them a goodnight kiss like he usually does, he hugs them tight and pinky promises to feel better tomorrow. Sanghyuk is still asleep and so Taekwoon carries him to his own bed and crawls into bed beside him. They'll shower and change the sheets tomorrow since it's likely Sanghyuk won't be able to go to school tomorrow and he'll have to call in sick to work again, but Sanghyuk finally looks serene as he sleeps. 

"Goodnight," he mumbles to Hakyeon, who had swiftly changed into his pajamas and had come back to grab his glasses and book to go sleep out on the couch. Taekwoon feels a little guilty because their couch is lumpy and awful, but Hakyeon just smiles and leans over him to kiss his forehead. 

"Goodnight, kitten," he teases, smile bright as he deftly avoids the kick Taekwoon aims at his butt. Taekwoon catches the way his eyes twinkle as the doors shut behind him, leaving the room in the warm glow of the nightlight plugged in by the door. 

Taekwoon sighs, the sight of bright twinkling lights filling up his vision as his eyes flutter shut and he drifts off to sleep.


End file.
